Suffering from a chronic cough?

Chronic cough

Have you ever been afflicted with a cough that you just couldn’t get rid of? Maybe you tried something that gave some temporary relief, but the cough just always seemed to come back.

If you have a chronic cough (defined as one that persists for longer than eight weeks), it may be due to one of the common causes of chronic coughs in adults:

1. Medications, especially angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors (for hypertension)

2. Smoking

3. Post-nasal drainage (chronic, i.e. from minor allergies)

4. GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease)

Other less common causes:

1. Tuberculosis and other chronic infections

2. Cystic fibrosis

3. Lung cancer

4. Many other possibilities

The best thing to do is to check with your doctor or lung specialist and be sure to give him/her all the important information that would provide clues about the cause of the chronic cough. Have the answers to the following questions ready:

• Was it preceded by an illness?

• If there was an illness do you know what it was? How severe?

• Is there anything that makes the cough better or worse?

• Does it persist through the night, or does it only happen while you are awake?

• Is it worse at night, during the day, or about the same?

• Does the cough worsen with exertion or exercise?

#cough #coughing #selfevaluation #SeeADoctor  #sorethroat